Tag Archives: Andar

I’m currently in Afghanistan, and on my way to Ghazni again, but wanted to post some more pictures from my embed in May. I wrote about the time I spent with the American 2-2 infantry here. Here are some pictures from one of the patrols.

Sneaking up:

The moment I remember most — right before we ran across the field to take cover under the far wall:

Climbed up on the roof and this was the view:

Looking down from roof – women and children huddling in the corner:

They told us they were just pipes – no plumbing within dozens of miles though.

I spent several days with the American infantry unit that is based in the eastern part of Ghazni province (Andar and Deh-Yak disricts). Approximately 1,000 soldiers were added to Ghazni last fall as part of President Obama’s 30,000 strong troop surge. They are technically under the command of the Polish General, but their direct commander is a U.S. Colonel. I wanted to get a feel for how American operations compared to the Polish, and to talk to the Americans about the progress they had made since they arrived. The guys I spent time with were from Fort Knox, Kentucky. The bases I visited while embedded with them were basically just tiny outposts – Deh Yak had maybe 100 guys stationed there, and for the duration I was definitely the only XX chromosome around. I had to yell “FEMALE!” every time I walked into the “bathroom” (shudder to remember it) and had to ask a boy to stand guard when I wanted a shower.

They were all gentlemen, and in true gentleman form fought over who got to carry my bag. For sleep arrangements they had part of one of the tents walled off with two cots on the other side (They used to have a female cook who lived there). They boys were polite enough to knock on the plywood to see if I needed anything. If I ran into them at the mall I would have guessed they were 13 years old. They ran an extension cord over the wall so I could have power, and made sure to let me know that if I needed anything I just holler. They all yelled “goodnight ma’am!” and then I heard them make fart jokes and play shoot-em-up videos games all night.

The tents:

Andar and Deh-Yak are two of the most dangerous provinces in Ghazni, possibly in all of Afghanistan at the moment. The troops in these regions were getting attacked every day, often several times a day. They were seeing a lot of action. The U.S. Colonel had been to the main base to visit the General, so I hitched a ride with his convoy for the return trip to Andar, about a 45 minute ride.

Depending on how many camels crossed the road.

My second day with them our 10:00am patrol was delayed because four of their best Afghan Police officers were ambushed and killed during the night. It was the first time such an attack had happened in the Police Chief’s home town, one of the few places the ANP felt secure enough to patrol without an American escort. It was not a good sign and everyone took it pretty hard. Some of the Americans had grown close to their Afghan counterparts. All patrols are required to have an Afghan element, so we weren’t sure if we’d be able to continue with the mission as our escorts were all dead.

The Americans did eventually find someone who was willing to go with us. A mangy looking Afghan Army soldier who wore his army cargo pants tucked into his two-sizes-too-big laceless-sockless-combat boots. He flopped ahead as we patrolled through towns and wore his rifle haphazardly on a string, pointing this way and that. The Afghan security forces don’t have armored vehicles, and usually just ride around in the back of a pickup truck. The guy who stands there manning the gun in the flatbed has balls of steel. Everyone knows he’s the bullseye.

The briefing that morning was one of the most tense I’d seen. The Americans knew they were going to see some action, and they were fired up. The platoon sergeant briefed at a yell, “We’re going to go out and kill some fucking bad guys today! You see a dude holding a fucking weapon you hose him down!” Then he added, still yelling, “And make sure you drink some fucking water, and eat some fucking snacks!”

We had a long day ahead of us. We were headed out. More pictures to come.

Related to my recent post on how the Taliban operates a shadow government in Ghazni, here is another update from the New York Times reporter currently embedded with the American troops in Ghazni province which reveals the extent to which the Taliban have infiltrated the region. These pictures highlight how weapons that the American DoD purchases for the Afghan security forces, can end up in the wrong hands, with the result that America is funding both sides of the war.

In Ghazni Province, Stacks of Taliban Records and Photographs
BY C. J. CHIVERS

Captured photographs, made by Taliban fighters and those who live with them, offer views of the fighters and how they see themselves.

Two fighters with rifles originally issued to the Afghan security forces. These rifles, purchased by the Pentagon, were a common sight in the trove of Ghazni Taliban photographs.

The Andar district in Ghazni province is just to the Southeast of Ghazni city, and as I posted yesterday, the American battalion which arrived in the fall has been operating here. However, it appears the Poles are working either in conjunction or at least simultaneously in the region, as they just captured a Taliban leader here:

Polish soldiers have detained one of the most important Taliban leaders during a night raid in a remote village in the Andar district.

Sana Mohammad, who was arrested in the Afghan province of Ghazni, was on NATO’s list of most-wanted terrorists. News of the action was released by Poland’s HQ in Afghanistan.

The arrest occurred four days ago in one of the villages in the Andar district. In the middle of the night, Polish and Afghan commandos surrounded the house where the Taliban leader was hiding.

Besides arresting Sana Mohammad, the detachment also managed to detain a local leader of the Taliban. The action was reportedly completed during very difficult conditions, in the midst of a snowstorm.